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Splashmins investigating piranha attacks at resort
– Advises swimmers not swim in restricted areas
Kaieteur News – The Splashmins Resort located along the Linden Soesdyke Highway has been forced to launch an investigation into alleged Piranha attacks at its creek, after a swimmer on Saturday reportedly had a piece of her feet bitten off by the fish.
“Yes we are investigating because the reported attacks are getting to that extent”, a spokesperson (name provided) with the Resort told Kaieteur News.
Saturday was reportedly the fifth alleged piranha attack that took place at the resort in recent times.
The first attack was reported in April 2021, when a woman and man reportedly had ‘chunks of their feet bitten off while swimming with children in the water.
Eyewitness recalled hearing a woman screaming and then seeing blood in the water. They claimed that they saw about 11-15 piranhas circling where the blood was in the water. A man next to her tried to help but he too was attacked. Both of them were eventually rescued.
A few more attacks had allegedly taken place since then, but were never publicly reported, until a fifth occurred on Saturday afternoon
According to reports a group of friends were “playing casually” in the water when a woman was bitten.
One of the friends, Rishma Ajodha, recounted the alleged attack in a Facebook Post.
She said, “What started out as a fun Saturday lime among friends ended in tragedy as one of my friend was bitten by what I can only assume is a Piranha!”
“All I heard her say”, continued Ajodha, “was ‘something bit me”. The victim reportedly fell and other persons nearby rushed to rescue her.
Ajodha claimed that when her friend was lifted out of the water, t
Piranha’s caught by residents living close to Splashmin’s Resort
here was a “one and a half” inch bite mark on the bottom of her foot.
Photos taken of the wound showed that piece of the flesh beneath her foot was missing. Persons assisted in cleaning the wound and the injured woman was taken to the Diamond Hospital.
Piranhas are carnivorous fresh water fish with razor sharp teeth and a veracious appetite that can be found in rivers and lakes. But according to Splashmins Resort, the flesh eating fish were never spotted before in its creek.
With reports surfacing of patrons being attacked, the owners are now trying to find out how the piranhas might have inhabited the resort’s waters.
According to the spokesperson, “we does clean the creek on a regular but we have never caught or saw any piranha while doing so”.
A few residents, however, who live close to resort, related to Kaieteur News that they have reportedly caught some piranhas from the Splashmins creek while fishing and have even taken photos of the catch to prove that piranhas might very well the be the culprit behind the attack on patrons.
While the resort investigates the Piranha attacks, it has put measures in place to ensure the safety of its patrons and is advising them not to swim in restricted areas.
The Splashmins spokesperson said “We understand the dangers that these fish pose but we cannot shut down the resort either because a lot people will be out of a job, so we have restricted the areas where the piranhas might be and meshed off the safe areas”.
While Splashmins is not aware of the location where Saturday’s victim was attacked, the resort claimed that previous attacks occurred outside of the safe zones.
“We were not allowed a chance to speak or assist with Saturday’s victim, perhaps because they were angry, but we do know that individuals previously attacked were swimming beyond the meshed boundaries”, the spokesperson said.
Splashmins assured, however, that they will try their best to ensure that patrons obey the rules and prevent further attacks and as always will continue to have life guards on duty in the case of an emergency.
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